The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences
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Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences
By Hugh FitzGerald Ryan
A very pleased Old Christians team, including Roberto Canessa (left) and Gustavo Zerbino
(right), both Andes survivors. Gustavo is the current president of
the Uruguay Rugby Union (URU)
(Photographer unknown)
take his kick, but rather, ‘with a fine disregard
Origins of the game for the rules of football,’ ran forward with the
Two years before the irascible Duke of ball in his hands, towards the opposite goal. If a
Wellington [1] scored his final victory over junior boy had done this, wrote Bloxam, ‘he
Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, would probably have received more kicks than
young Matthew Bloxam entered Rugby School. commendations’. This in time was to become
It is a cliché that Waterloo was in fact won on the apocryphal account of the origin of the
the playing fields of Eton, England, attesting to game. ‘It is an attractively subversive story,
the vigorous and barely contained mayhem impossible to prove beyond doubt’ (Richards
practised at the time on the sports fields of the 2007: 24).
English public schools. Sixty-four years later
The game was adopted by other public schools
Bloxam wrote his recollections of the game of
as ‘Rugby football with some exceptions’ and
football as played at Rugby in his times. These
inevitably, as the British Empire spread to
games consisted of selected teams of twenty or
many parts of the world, its administrators and
so, to which others might attach themselves as
they saw fit, not dissimilar to a form of football army officers brought the game with them. In
1871 the English Rugby Football Union was
known as caid quite common in Ireland at that
time. He remembered William Webb Ellis, a formed, and the laws were codified as they
were to apply wherever the game was played.
boy ‘with no lack of assurance,’ whose time at
Scotland, Ireland and Wales followed suit in
Rugby overlapped with his. It was this boy who
1873, 1874 [2] and 1880 respectively. For
allegedly broke the rule on handling the ball.
almost a century the game was strictly an
According to Bloxham, on one occasion in
amateur game.
1823, on catching the ball, Ellis did not retire to
Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’ 29
Vol. 6, n°1 (March 2008)
The schism which led to the creation of the attracted extravagant bets on how the bones
Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) in might fall. It remains illegal in Uruguay, except
Yorkshire, England (later to become rugby on election-day. The newly arrived inglés,
league) in 1895 was deep and bitter. The kernel despite the emphasis on the Classics in his or
of the dispute was that some believed that her public school education, would most
working men should be compensated for the probably have regarded it as they would have
loss of a day’s or a half-day’s pay, while others regarded Pitch and Toss home, a pursuit for
regarded rugby as exclusively a game for corner boys and wastrels.
‘gentlemen’, presumably with private means. It
The largest bull-ring in South America was
took ninety-nine years and 364 days for the
completed at Colonia del Sacramento in
International Rugby Board to concede the
southern Uruguay in 1912, the same year that
principal of payment for playing, due in a large
bull-fighting was made illegal in the country,
degree to the vast amounts of money flowing
attesting to the decline of the old amusements
into the game from advertising and television,
in favour of the imported European games and
as well as a drain of players to rugby league.
to some spectacularly bad timing on the part of
the promoters.
Introduction to the River Plate
British games arrived to the River Plate with The Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC)
British citizens who were involved in trade, illustrates the situation of the new immigrants
rather than with imperial administration and well and may serve as a paradigm for
conquest. Sports clubs served a valuable social developments in Argentina also. Founded by an
function for immigrants who had little affinity inglés involved in the meat trade as the Victoria
with bull-fighting or other sports of Spanish Cricket Club in 1842, it withered almost
origin. immediately due to the siege of Montevideo,
which began the following year and lasted until
Rodeo, the pre-eminent sport of the gauchos, is 1851. General Rivera and the Colorado party
still popular and attracts thousands to the declared themselves to be the defenders of
spectacle of the domador (the horse breaker / liberty and with the help of Britain and France,
tamer) in the Prado Park in Montevideo during fortified the city against General Manuel Oribe,
Holy Week. A visitor from Ireland would have the Blanco party and their ally, the dictator Juan
been struck by the similarities to the Royal Manuel Rosas of Argentina. Giuseppe
Dublin Society’s Horse Show, [3] even in the Garibaldi, the Italian national hero, was among
design of the exhibition buildings. However, the foreign volunteers who came to defend this
the differences were more striking. This is a ‘New Troy’. Most of the inhabitants of
week of wild horses, broken bones and gauchos Montevideo were European at that time,
in flamboyant costume, with facóns (long knives) though there was a substantial community of
tucked into their belts. Afro-Uruguayans. It is doubtful if there was
As in Ireland and Britain during the early any space for field games within the walls
nineteenth century, cock-fighting was prevalent during those years. Presumably the traditional
at the time, as a focus for gambling. Legend has games went on as before. The government was
it that many a man gambled his wife’s honour obliged to impose severe duties on imports,
at these events, certainly not the action of a which may explain why the Cricket Club was
gentleman! unable to import bats, balls and stumps until
1862.
Despite its ancient origin, - it was played at
Troy by Achilles and Patroclus - the gaucho Paradoxically during two decades of war and
gambling game taba was frowned upon by the political upheaval, British influence and
civil authorities and eventually outlawed. Not commercial activity increased in Uruguay. The
dissimilar in concept to ‘Pitch and Toss’, [4] it production of wool expanded rapidly, in
is played with the knuckle bone of a cow and inverse proportion to the decline of cotton
production during the American Civil War.
30 Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
British investors such as the Drabble Brothers 1894 a Scottish-Argentine, Duncan Stewart was
and MacIntyre developed new production appointed interim President.
techniques, notably the enclosure of pastures
A cricket match against Buenos Aires Cricket
with barbed wire and the introduction of
Club, scheduled for 1864, was postponed until
British breeds of sheep and cattle. In 1862 the
1868. The first international competition of its
firm founded by German chemist Justus von
kind in South America was delayed various
Liebig in London, The Liebig Extract of Meat
significant events: the Cruzada Libertadora of
Company (Lemco) began to produce their
Venancio Flores; the overthrow of the Blanco
famous meat extract at Fray Bentos.
government; the massacres at Paysandú; the
The government of Bernardo Berro, from 1860 war against Paraguay; the assassination of
to 1864, introduced many liberal reforms, set Flores; the subsequent assassination of Berro;
up a new and strong currency using the gold and a massive outbreak of cholera on both
standard, and separated the Catholic Church sides of the River Plate.
from state institutions, especially education.
From 1863 to 1865, Flores, with troops from
The MVCC reappeared under its present name Brazil and Argentina, raised a revolt against
at a meeting in 1861 of the original founders, at Berro and the Blancos and ravaged the country
the fashionable Confitería Oriental in north of the Río Negro. He was responsible for
Montevideo. Its objective was to foster all the massacre of the citizens of Paysandú and
sports, including rugby, athletics, rowing and the destruction of their town. He wrested
football. Tennis and the use of the velocipede power from the Blancos and began to roll back
were also later introduced. the reforms instigated by Berro. In this he was
supported by the Catholic Church and
The Bank of London opened a branch in
conservative elements in society and in the
Montevideo in 1863, and in 1865 Montevideo
military. He involved Uruguay with Brazil and
Waterworks was set up by a British company to
Argentina in a war against Paraguay that
provide a source of clean drinking water,
resulted in the devastation of that country.
encouraging more British settlement and
investment. Thousands of comparatively On 19 February 1965, during a heatwave and
affluent Brazilian troops passing through with an outbreak of cholera in the city, Berro,
Montevideo during the Paraguayan war [5] regarded as a man of peace and reconciliation,
brought about a large injection of cash into the staged a coup, beginning with the assassination
economy. The first railways were also built at of Flores and seizure of the government
this time. In 1876, during a period of political buildings. The young son of Flores came to do
stability and prosperity, Uruguay purchased reverence to the decapitated body of his father.
English railway equipment and a further influx Tearfully he embraced his former mentor and
of British immigrants took place. The friend, Bernardo Berro, drew a pistol from his
employees of these enterprises all gravitated coat and shot him dead. There followed a reign
towards the sports clubs already in existence or of terror, partly precipitated by an English
founded their own along similar lines. Names telegraph operator in the new Proudfoot
of football clubs such as the Carmelo Telegraph Company, who confused ‘vénganse’
Wanderers are evidence of the direct influence (come!) with ‘vénguense’ (take revenge!), in a
of the ingleses in their foundation. President message to military commanders. The episode
Pedro Varela in 1875, noted for his progressive exhibited to perfection all the elements of
and egalitarian education policies, remarked Shakespearian tragedy, especially the dramatic
that he felt like the manager of a great estancia, unities of time and place. The heatwave abated.
the owner of which lived in London. Indeed The executions petered out and play was
the impact of the British community would in resumed. In calmer times both clubs played the
less than two decades manifest itself in the first international rugby match in the region in
highest echelons of political power, when in 1874.
Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’ 31Vol. 6, n°1 (March 2008)
The first football match in Uruguay was played winters, poor harvests and facing the imminent
between a team from MVCC and a team from a loss of its Empire, could not or would not pay
visiting British ship in 1878. The story of the the debt. Instead, British interests were
expansion of Association Football in South persuaded to sign over ownership of the rattle-
America is well known. The game of rugby was trap, ill-maintained transport infrastructure to
eclipsed by the increasing passion for fútbol. the Uruguayan state. Most of the system was
decommissioned forthwith. This was perhaps a
English cricket clubs were the incubators of
shrewd deal for Britain, but definitely not for
rugby’s development in the River Plate region
cricket! [6] Secondly, a small group of Irish
(Richards 2007:54). Rugby later gained a firm
Christian Brothers opened a school at Carrasco,
foothold in the clubs established by the English
a leafy suburb on the outskirts of the city. This
schools during the 1870s and 1880s.
school, Stella Maris, was to attract worldwide
Significantly, these schools also enrolled
attention in 1972, following the crash of Flight
Uruguayans and Argentineans, integrating the
F-227 of the Uruguayan Air Force, high in the
colleges and their sports into the mainstream of
Andes.
Uruguayan and Argentinean life and leading to
the formation of clubs throughout both The Irish Christian Brothers, colloquially
countries. The game advanced rapidly in known as ‘the Brothers’, were founded in
Argentina and in 1899 the River Plate Rugby County Waterford, Ireland, by Edmund
Football Union was formed, later to be Unión Ignatius Rice, a devout Roman Catholic and
Argentina de Rugby (UAR). However, the club philanthropic businessman in that city. He
had to wait until 1987 to be affiliated to the opened his first school for the education of
international board (IRB), when they were poor boys in a stable in Waterford in 1802 with
invited to compete in the inaugural World Cup. the support of the local Roman Catholic bishop
‘Rugby criollo’ was introduced in 1949 at the Thomas Hussey. Using his own money to
Carrasco Polo Club (Richards 2007: 164). provide food, clothing and books for the
Uruguay did not form its own union until 1951. students and the teachers who came to join him
Appropriately the first president of the union in his work, and having overcome many
was Carlos E. Cat, a leading figure in difficulties, the order of the Irish Christian
Montevideo Cricket Club, who had played Brothers was finally sanctioned by Rome in
rugby for San Isidro Club in Argentina. There 1821. It was designated as a religious
would also appear to be an Irish link with the congregation of men, as opposed to ordained
foundation of the Uruguay Rugby Union, as its clergy. By this time they had founded schools
first honorary secretary was a Mr D in many parts of the country, under the
McCormack. The game is constituted on an patronage of local bishops (Cullen & O’ Toole
amateur basis in both countries. 1979).
The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 posed
Irish Involvement
an unexpected threat to the existence of the
Two events of significance occurred in Order. The bill proposed to continue the law of
Montevideo in May 1955. Firstly, the last tram 1791, forbidding religious orders from
of the crumbling British transport system recruiting new members, under threat of
rattled along the route from central transportation to the penal colonies. [7] A
Montevideo to Punta Carretas, a suburb on the delegation to London bearing a petition signed
coast. Britain had amassed large debts to by thousands of prominent people of different
Uruguay for the supply of foodstuffs during the Christian denominations secured an interview
Second World War and arguably, a debt of with the Prime Minister, the Duke of
honour for its assistance in the destruction of Wellington, the famously reluctant Irishman. [8]
the German warship Admiral Graf Spee at the Edmund Rice’s brother, Fr. John Rice was a
outbreak of hostilities. Drained by the cost of member of the delegation. He explained clearly
the war, Britain, in the grip of rationing, harsh the work done by the Brothers in the fields of
32 Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
education and charity. The Duke replied in a Nevertheless, Cardenal Newman School
characteristic fashion: opened in 1948. Some of the Brothers from the
earliest times are still attached to the college
’You exist contrary to the law. You may
and, in some cases, still active in social work
perceive that the people of this country are
with elderly and underprivileged fellow
hostile to you.’ The law remained, but Daniel
parishioners.
O’Connell, [9] a Catholic lawyer known as The
Liberator in Ireland, advised Edmund Rice to A group of Catholic parents based in Uruguay
disregard it. It was O’Connell who famously came to Buenos Aires and petitioned the
remarked that he could drive ‘a coach and four’ Brothers to found a similar school in
[10] through any act of parliament. Montevideo. They had originally approached a
Nevertheless, its presence created financial congregation of Canadian Jesuits, but liked
difficulties for the Brothers. They found that what they saw in Buenos Aires. From the
they could not affiliate to the new state-funded outset, the Brothers insisted that the college
multi-denominational National Schools system would be English-speaking and that the
that was set up in 1831 as these schools were education provided would be Catholic.
strictly secular, (as were the public schools set Moreover, physical education and sport would
up in Uruguay in the 1870s.) In order to play a major role in the life of the college.
survive, the Brothers introduced a system of Given the perceived aversion of the Brothers to
fee-paying schools, whereby the better off ‘foreign games’ (any sport of British origin) in
subsidised the education of the poor. Ireland, it is interesting that they chose rugby as
the dominant game at Cardenal Newman and at
To some degree this
Stella Maris. Moreover, Uruguay was still
question arose
basking in the glory of two wins in the football
wherever the Brothers
World Cup competition: the inaugural World
opened schools, as they
Cup in 1930, which was held at the Estadio
were to do in many
Centenario in Montevideo, and the 1950 World
parts of the world.
Cup in Brazil. When they had first arrived
Stella Maris in Carrasco
‘rugby was hardly played at all there’ (Reid
and Cardenal Newman
1974:21).
College in Buenos
Aires are regarded as The reasoning behind the choice of rugby was
schools for the more that it encouraged teamwork rather than the
affluent middle class. Nevertheless the schools cultivation of individual stars. At all times boys
have been consistently involved in social and were taught to play fair but hard, and to
charitable work in their communities, following support one another, all striving together
the teaching of their founder. Cardenal towards a common goal. This spirit of
Newman, founded in 1948, was their first cooperation permeated all aspects of the life of
school in South America, followed by schools the school and still does. This attitude
in Uruguay, Peru and Paraguay. The influence contributed to what has been called ‘the
of the Brothers has waned in modern times and mystery of Christians’. The Brothers, some of
their numbers have diminished. them new to South America and speaking little
or no Spanish, learned from the boys and vice
‘The Spirit of the Scrum’ versa.
Stella Maris was to a certain extent an offshoot As the first generation of graduates left the
of the Brothers’ Cardenal Newman School. It school, many imbued with a passion for rugby,
had taken quite a few years for the Brothers in they decided to continue practising the game
Dublin to accede to repeated requests from and in 1965 established ‘Old Christians’ Rugby
Catholic parents and clergy in Buenos Aires. Club. Reflecting the Irish link, they adopted the
The Order was more inclined to concentrate on shamrock as the club’s crest. Within a short
the English-speaking countries of the Empire. period of time they became a dominant force in
Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’ 33Vol. 6, n°1 (March 2008)
Uruguayan rugby. In 1968 they won their first school and with the Old Christians club. Many
Uruguayan National championship, and their of them are distinguished members of the
second in 1970. They made their international professions and commercial life in Uruguay.
tour to Argentina in 1970 and the following Nando Parrado is prominent in the media and
year went to Chile, chartering a plane from the in business. Roberto Canessa is Uruguay’s
Uruguayan air force. leading paediatric cardiologist and in 1978 he
was picked to play on the South American
Such was the success of the 1971 tour to Chile
rugby XV, named the Jaguars.
that it was decided to do another tour the
following year, again chartering a plane from Although the Brothers had an influential role in
the air force, recruiting friends and relatives to Uruguayan rugby, establishing the foundations
help fill the plane. On 13 October 1972 the for one of the country’s most successful clubs
flight (F-227), which flew via Mendoza in and the diffusion of the sport in the country,
Argentina, crashed in the snow-covered peaks their contribution to Argentinean rugby was on
of the Andes on its way to Santiago de Chile. a smaller scale, as the game was well established
The survivors initially survived with scarce food by the time Cardenal Newman College was
reserves salvaged from the plane, but once founded. Nevertheless they still made a
these supplies ran out, they were forced to feed significant contribution to Argentinean rugby.
themselves on the bodies of their dead Club Newman was founded in Benavides,
companions (Reid 1974) and (Parrado 2006). Buenos Aires in 1975, by graduates of the
school, and the Club competes in the first
Initially the young men turned to their team
division of the Rugby Union of Buenos Aires
captain for leadership. They attributed their
(URBA) championship. ‘Pumas’ (Argentinean
survival to a great extent to the attitudes and
national rugby team) players who got their start
discipline inculcated in them by the Brothers,
in Club Newman include the Contepomi
and to their involvement in rugby. They
brothers, Felipe and Manuel, and Marcos Ayerza.
invoked the ‘Spirit of the Scrum’. They prayed
together as they had at school and sang their
The Modern Game
school chants and songs.
Argentina played its first full international game
Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa against a touring British Isles team in 1910.
undertook a ten-day expedition of incredible Distance, two World Wars and lack of funding
risk and hardship over the Andes, securing the limited international involvement until the later
rescue of their fourteen surviving companions, decades of the century. The game spread within
[11] after seventy-two days in the mountains. Argentina itself. There are eighty clubs in the
On returning to Montevideo, the survivors greater Buenos Aires area and about four
consulted Brother John McGuinness, the hundred throughout the country. In the
director of the college, as to how they should Northwest, the game comes close to surpassing
deal with the frenzy of media attention. His football in popularity. More than seventy
simple answer was ‘Tell them the truth’. private schools, mostly bilingual as a result of
This most extraordinary of ‘rugby stories’ British and Irish influence, and twenty
focused world attention on Uruguay and on universities, predominantly in the Buenos Aires
Stella Maris and defines to this day the spirit of area, have their own rugby teams. Women’s
the school. Fittingly, thirty years later, a rugby has begun to develop in a handful of
selection including a dozen of the survivors clubs. The season runs from March to
played the match originally intended for 1972, November. This has enticed European teams
which they won by twenty-eight points to to tour there for an easy run up to the Six
eleven. Roberto Canessa, one of the try scorers, Nations, only to be severely mauled by the
remarked: ‘We were really up for the game. We Pumas. There have also been Irish links with
were focused, just like thirty years ago.’ Most of the Pumas: two coaches were of Irish origin,
the survivors are still closely involved with the Adolfo ‘Michingo’ O’Reilly during the 1980s
34 Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
and Dermot Cavanagh during the 1960s. There (now defunct), Old Boys and Montevideo
have also been players of Irish origin, including Cricket. Since then Old Christians, Los
Santiago Phelan, who played in the late 1990s Cuervos, Champagnat and El Trébol
and retired in 2003. (Paysandú) have joined the competition.
Carrasco Polo has been the dominant
In their first World Cup, the Pumas scored a
champion for most of this time, winning
win over Italy but finished bottom of their pool
twenty-one championships, followed by Old
on points difference. In subsequent World Cup
Christians with sixteen. Old Christians won the
tournaments and Test Series they scored
Championship in 2007. Brother McGuinness,
notable wins over all the Six Nations teams and
speaking from retirement in County Kilkenny,
gave the All Blacks a severe fright, allaying any
expressed regret that the game was changing
notion that they are a second-tier force in the
from an open, running game to one of ‘big hits’
rugby world. In the 2007 World Cup they
and increased physical contact. He kept a close
devastated Ireland and went on to destroy the
eye on the rugby scene in Uruguay. He maintained
reigning champions, France, twice, coming
that Carrasco Polo retained its dominance by
third overall in the tournament. Many
recruiting the biggest players available.
Argentinean players play professional rugby in
Europe including Agustín Pichot, Felipe The Punta del Este Sevens attract the best
Contepomi and Juan Martin Hernández. players in South America and formerly some of
Contepomi, a graduate of Cardenal Newman the most outstanding players in the world, such
College, playing for Leinster, was named as the as Jonah Lomu. The tournament is a major
sports writers’ player of the year in Ireland in tourist attraction in Punta del Este and one of
2007. He made his international debut against the highlights of the rugby year in the region.
Uruguay in 1995 and established himself as a The URU puts a great deal of effort into
formidable force with Bristol in England and organising youth rugby in the country by
later with Leinster, enabling him to complete encouraging clubs and schools. In this way they
his medical studies in Ireland. have enlarged the pool of up-and-coming
players, to the benefit of the clubs and
Although the UAR considered a change to its
ultimately, it is hoped, the national team, Los
statutes which would allow professionalism in
Teros. [12] On the international level Los Teros
Argentina’s domestic leagues, this was
have won twenty, drawn one and lost thirty-
unanimously rejected in an extraordinary
eight. Notable wins were against Georgia in the
meeting in January 2008. Whilst some were
World Cup in Australia; 18-12 against Portugal
pushing for inclusion in the Six Nations
in 2007, following a previous defeat; 43-15
competition, it seems more likely that
against Chile in 2006 and a spectacular recovery
Argentina’s future lies with the Tri-Nations
against Chile in 2007, coming from 27-0 at half-
competition in the Southern hemisphere.
time to win by 35-34. Unfortunately they failed
On the opposite bank of the Plate, the game to qualify for the World Cup in France in 2007.
similarly remains steadfastly amateur. After the
formation of the Uruguay Rugby Union (URU)
in 1951, four teams took part in the first club Hugh FitzGerald Ryan
tournament: Carrasco Polo, Colonia Rugby
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Roberto Canessa, Daniel Etchegorry, Bro. John McGuinness RIP (as I understand
from his colleagues in Kilkenny, Brother McGuinness died on 28 October 2007, just a few days before
Old Christians won the championship), and to William Revetria, Gabriela Viera, the teachers of Stella
Maris and the members of Old Christians, for their help, guidance and recollections about rugby in
Uruguay.
Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’ 35Vol. 6, n°1 (March 2008) Notes [1] Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769 -1852), was a British Army soldier and statesman, and is considered one of the leading military and political figures of the first half of the nineteenth century. [2] The Irish Football Union (IFU) was formed in Dublin in 1874 and in 1875 the Northern Football Union (NFU) was founded in Belfast. The two bodies agreed to merge in 1879 to form the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). [3] The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) was founded in 1731 to promote and develop agriculture, arts, science and industry. The society’s main premises and main arena in Ballsbridge, a suburb of Dublin, hosts an annual international showjumping week entitled ‘Dublin Horse Show, culminating in the Aga Khan Showjumping final. [4] Pitch and Toss is a simple coin game, known by this name in Britain since at least the eighteenth century. [5] The War of the Triple Alliance, also known as the Paraguayan War, was fought from 1864 to 1870; it was fought between Paraguay and the allied countries of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. [6] An idiom which is used especially in England and Wales meaning something is unfair. [7] Initially the British used North America as a penal colony, the most famous being the Province of Georgia. Convicts were transported by private sector merchants and auctioned off to plantation owners upon arrival in the colonies. After the American independence in 1779 this avenue was closed off. Australia was to later take its place with penal colonies such as Norfolk Island, Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales. [8] When someone commended him as a famous Irishman, he replied ‘Being born in a stable does not make one a horse.’ [9] Daniel O’Connell (1775 -1847) was Ireland’s predominant political leader in the first half of the nineteenth century. He campaigned for Catholic Emancipation - the right for Catholics to sit in the British parliament in Westminster, which was achieved in 1829 through the Roman Catholic Relief Act. In the 1830s Daniel O’Connell became a major figure in the House of Commons and was active in the campaigns for prison and law reform, free trade, the abolition of slavery and Jewish emancipation. [10] An idiom which means that lawyer can always find for their clients some loophole in the law. [11] José Pedro Algorta, Alfredo 'Pancho' Delgado, Daniel Fernández, Roberto 'Bobby' François, Roy Harley, José Luis 'Coche' Inciarte, Álvaro Mangino, Javier Methol, Carlos 'Carlitos' Páez, Ramon 'Moncho' Sabella, Adolfo 'Fito' Strauch, Eduardo Strauch, Antonio 'Tintin' Vizíntin and Gustavo Zerbino [12] ‘Tero’ is the Spanish for Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis). It is the national bird of Uruguay. References - Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) website (http://www.uar.com.ar) - accessed 8 February 2008 - Becco, Horacio and Carlos Cálcena, El Gaucho: Documentación - Iconografia (Buenos Aires: Editorial Plus Ultra, 1978) - Catholic Encyclopaedia 1912 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912) - Cullen, W.B and A.L. O’ Toole, Steadfast in Giving: Edmund Ignatius Rice (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1979) - Encyclopaedia Britannica (London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006) - International Rugby Board (IRB) website (http://www.irb.com) - accessed 8 February 2008 - Montevideo Cricket Club website ( http://www.montevideocricketclub.com) - accessed 8 February 2008 - Moorehead, Alan, Darwin and the Beagle (London: Harper & Row, 1969) - Nahum, Benjamín, Breve Historia del Uruguay Independiente (Montevideo: Banda Oriental, 1999) - National Geographic: Adventure (Washington DC: National Geographic, April 2006) 36 Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’
Irish Migration Studies in Latin America - Parrado, Nando, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home (New York: Crown, 2006) - Reid, Piers Paul, Alive (New York: Book-of-the-Month Club, 2000) - Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 2007) - Uruguayan Rugby Union (URU) website - ( http://www.uru.org.uy) accessed 8 February 2008 - Vierci, Pablo, Ad Astra; 50 Años del Stella Maris (Montevideo: 2005) Ryan, Hugh FitzGerald. ‘The Development of Rugby in the River Plate Region: Irish Influences’ 37
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